Rated Darkmouth Strikes Again 10/10
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Wants to read I'm Not Saying, I'm Just Saying
Rated Doctor Who: The Marian Conspiracy 10/10
<div>I'd heard only one story with Evelyn before, so I didn't have a proper appreciation for her yet, but now I do! What a great character. Really glad I bought the bundles that contain all her stories so I can hear them all now. This is a good throwback to when the show did more full-on historical tales. </div>
Wants to read The Last Draft: A Novelist's Guide to Revision
Rated The Shelter Within: A True Story 8/10
<div>I feel for her because writing about your struggles cannot be easy. Even after you make yourself excavate everything, afterwards, you feel like everyone is going to judge you and your choices. And looking at some of the reviews here, it happens! It's also gotta be frustrating to be in a better place financially NOW, writing about the struggles from BEFORE because every time someone sees you now, if they've read your writing, they might come to all sorts of weird conclusions. (I imagine this is what her book <em>Class</em> deals with, but I haven't read it yet.)<br><br>Still, at the stage in her life Land writes about here, you do get the sense that she's the friend who is ALWAYS going through some shit. Some of it might be "choices," sure, that happens, but it's also what you deal with you're broke AF. Shit just piles up! It compounds! And I do not begrudge her getting a coffee at City Brew because poor people need the occasional pick-me-up too. So I hope that in her real life, she has more people that extend kindness than not.</div><div><br></div>
Wants to read The Secret Lives of People in Love
Rated The Marriage Portrait 8/10
<div>I wasn't as into the story itself as much as I have been with other O'Farrell books, but when the writing is so great, who cares? I know I go on elsewhere about how it's often better to describe things simply and to get to the point, but when people write lushly and expansively WELL? Get in. Maggie O'Farrell shows us how it's done.</div>
Rated Doctor Who: Horror of Glam Rock 8/10
Loses a point for a trans-related joke (though I do understand this came out almost a decade ago. Still), but otherwise this is lots of good fun. Lots of references to other DW episodes, and I can see this as a standalone episode of the TV show.
Rated An Untamed State 10/10
Roxane Gay has appeared in a shedload of year-end lists already, and with good reason. With two books out this year, her tenacity and skills are finally receiving their due. I could have just as easily put her essay collection, Bad Feminist, in this [Top 5] slot (linked below), except I have a confession: I don’t own it yet. True, I read many of the included essays as they originally appeared in various online outlets, but the book itself, I do not have.<br><br>An Untamed State is no poor substitute, let’s be clear. Gay’s novel about Mireille Duval Jameson, a woman kidnapped while visiting her family in Haiti, is an unflinching look at the effect violence (particularly sexual violence) has on a person. The difficult scenes between Mireille and her captors never feel exaggerated for dramatic effect, and her descent into numbness in order to survive is one of the best depictions I’ve ever read. This novel also deals in memory, pain, and interpersonal relationships, but it’s also about a Haitian-American’s feeling of disconnect with her native country. It’s an outstanding debut.<br><br>(This review also appeared at <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/reading-list-top-5-favorite-books-2014/">Persephone Magazine</a>.)
Rated Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock 'n' Roll Group 6/10
What a delightfully odd little book this is. Presented as an old manual mixed with a narrator that's rather Lemony-Snicket-meets-Ted-Wilson, Supernatural Strategies For Making a Rock 'n' Roll Group manages to be just as funny as it is strange. Throughout, Ian F. Svenious injects enough knowing truth that anyone who has ever involved themselves with musicians will recognize.<br><br>(My full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2013/07/supernatural-strategies-for-making-rock.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated Survivors: Series Six 10/10
<div>A really good installment of this series.</div>
Rated Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth 10/10
Like a lot of people, probably, I picked this up after Warsan Shire's poetry was featured in Beyonce's LEMONADE. I am so glad I did.
Rated This is the Story of a Happy Marriage 10/10
Rated Magic Lessons: The Prequel to Practical Magic 8/10
<div>I got this prequel to <em>Practical Magic</em> ages ago and only just now got around to reading it. But since I finished it on a day when no one knows quite what to say, I'll just give you a quote from the book:<br><br><em>"Some creatures do not care how polite a person might be, they will hurt you for no reason, and then all you can do is heal yourself with whatever ingredients are necessary."</em></div>
Rated Utopia Avenue 10/10
This was everything I wanted in a David Mitchell rock novel — stunning writing, interesting people, weird periphery, and hundred of pages to get lost in for awhile. I took a bit longer to read it than originally intended (a surprise moving house will do that), but honestly, I'm not bummed because I got to live with the story that much longer. I have half-joked before that David Mitchell's books are so good, you want to eat them, and Utopia Avenue was no different.
Rated Doctor Who: Home Truths 10/10
Really excellent start to this storyline.
Rated John Varvatos: Rock in Fashion 8/10
I gave this to my husband for his birthday, since he loves the photography, many of the musicians, AND John Varvatos' clothing (never mind that he can't afford the clothing, but it is indeed beautiful). Sometimes the fashion-speak is not entirely my thing, but this is a great rock n roll book. I love the Paul Weller inclusions, and that some of Neil Casal's (from The Cardinals) photos of Ryan Adams and Liam and Noel Gallagher made it in. It's a fun book to look at.<br><br>More importantly though: SO MUCH BOWIE.
Wants to read Unf*ck Your Habitat: You're Better Than Your Mess
Rated The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid (26-Mar-2015) Paperback 8/10
<div>Even when I figured out whodunit, I didn't know the WHY until near the end, which is a great sign of McDermid's skill as a mystery writer. That said, I wish some of the dialogue was less expository, and I wish she didn't have such internalized fatphobia. Still, I am enjoying the Karen Pirie series.</div>